RSM789

Thinking it through, I see what you are saying. There are a lot of casual anglers who don't come close to caring for the environment. If I had qualified it by stating "Serious" or "Committed" hunters and fisherman, would that have been more accurate in your opinion?

Even though I had Pirch in bucket A, I found myself happy that Martens won for the same reasons. Points wise, he & Pirch both ended up with 305 (Pirch had 5 less regular points, but 5 more bonus points because he led for 2 days to Amarts 1). What made the difference in choosing either Amart or Pirch was the space between them & Rojas, who was the overwhelming favorite pick in that bucket. JVD's high wire act as he went from 52 to 12 to tied for 8th really helped both of us. Brett Hite's poor showing dragged alot of people down. As of yesterday, I was in 105th overall & figure to climb about 30 more places based on Murray's slip in Bucket E & the 40 point big bag bonus for Evers (who ended up being the overall point leader with 335 points). I believe the big bass of the tournament went to Mike Keirnan, who ended up in 50th & didn't have a large percentage of owners. Kyle, if I remember right, you were in the top 200 at the beginning of the week. Did havasu help, hurt or really make no difference for you?

Good for you, it is always a positive when fishermen go to lengths to help the wildlife. As is often said, the people who care the most for the environment are hunters & fishermen.

I was a Marshal this week on Lake Havasu and just realized while reading this thread that none of the 3 pro's used any scent at any time. Not on any of the hardbaits (frogs, walking baits, crankbaits) & not on the soft baits (craws, trick worms, jigs). I wish I would have realized this then so I could have asked about it...

I am imagining a huge swarm of human sized locusts carrying spincast rods & minnow buckets buzzing through the air...

I didn't post my picks here on Thursday because I was in Ish Monroes boat . Marshalling is pretty cool, I'd recommend it. Went out with Dennis Teijei yesterday & Alton Jones today, but that is a post for another day. My picks are: A - Pirch B- Ehler C- Evers D- JVD E- Hawk 3 have made the top 12, Ehler bubbled at 13th and only Hawk bombed out of the cut. Plus I have all 3 daily leader bonus points (Evers, Pirch twice) and Evers might hold on to big bag for another 40 points. I originally had Tharp & swapped him out for Hawk on the drive to Havasu, it may have cost me the $3000 BPS gift card.

I would love to take my dog, but he is a spaz & way too big for my boat. He'd enjoy going, but would either sink the boat or knock gear into the water.

If the NFL really wanted to stop cheating, the would vacate the Pats Super Bowl win. Don't give it to the Seahawks, they didn't earn it. 2014 season has no Super Bowl Champion. As for the Vince Lombardi trophy for that season, I suggest giving it to little Johnny Moynahan (spelling?). He seems like a good kid & if he has possession of the trophy, them Tom Brady will never see it.

Wait, the initial comment was that a divorce was an "epic success" & that is where the editorializing came in. No one needs to have "been there, done that" to question the logic that such a heartbreaking experience would be considered something to brag about on an internet forum. "Glass houses" only applies if one believes that all successful marriages are actually shams, ready to fall apart at a moments notice. I find that view to be quite cynical & not based in reality.

Well, we have 2 choices the same: A: Crews B: Hackney C: B. Hite D: Niggemeyer E: Litner Good luck, I hope at least one of us moves into the top 100 by the end of the event.

Happy Birthday, April birthdays are the best Your dog is too cool.

At age 16, somehow having the chutzpah to ask out an 18 yr old girl that was way out of my league. There was no logical reason she would even give me the time of day, much less actually go out with me. But fortune favors the brave, she said yes, we dated for 7 years and have been married for another 29 years. Very lucky on my part. I do have trouble understanding how some believe the failure of a marriage is an epic success. I hear some guys say that divorce is expensive because it is worth it, but that kind of sounds like they are trying to convince themselves that giving up on a commitment ("for better or for worse") is somehow cool. I find it telling & feel sorry for them.

If you do, please post the Go-Pro footage...

Wearing white or loud colored clothing. Hats off to Skeet Reese to catch what he does while wearing dayglow yellow. Maybe the fish think he is a big duck. Making noise in the boat by dropping something or dragging something, anything that will reverberate thru the hull to the water. Making a horrible skip cast that goes over the dock (instead of under it), up into the yard & hits the lawn furniture. Ditto for bouncing your T-rig weight off a homeowners boat while he is standing there on the dock.

I have a 10 ft. Pond Prowler & when my sister came from out of state with her daughters (ages 10 & 7), we fished 3 people out of it (total weight about 430 lbs). The adults were in the seats and a kid would sit in the middle on a tackle box. I didn't go to the problem of making a 3rd seat because it was a once a year type deal. A third full seat might be a little cramped, you may need to get creative with a bucket or something.

As I have watched the latest MLF Challenge cup on TV over the past few weeks, I have wondered how long will B.A.S.S. (& F.L.W.) will continue their current format of bringing fish in to be weighed and then releasing them. When Catch & Release was first instituted in B.A.S.S. tourneys in the early 70's, it was a major change. It shook up how tournaments were run and how anglers had to handle their catch. I was reading about the upcoming Elite series tournament on the Sacramento River and it appears they will be returning fish to the basic areas where they were caught (i.e., delta fish back to the delta, river fish back to the river). That is alot of work & logistics, a far cry from the time when they were all just dumped off the local marina dock. Now I don't believe B.A.S.S. tournaments will adapt the MLF scoring system, it changes their history too much and eliminates the hype & anticipation of a weigh-in ceremony. MLF are made for TV contests while the B.A.S.S. tournaments do well with an audience. What I anticipate is a hybrid between the two, with fish being documented when caught & then released immediately and an in person ceremony that shows the results. If I suddenly replaced Jerry McKinnis, here is how I would do it: Every legal fish caught by an angler (that he chooses to weigh) is weighed by the angler & the marshal using identically calibrated scales distributed by B.A.S.S. The angler is responsible for getting the fish securely locked on to the scale & removing it, the marshal is responsible for a fair weighing. The scales transmit the weight of the fish, time of catch and type of bass (may need to be input) back to the tournament headquarters & the data is stored in the weighing device. As a backup, the marshal can manually record the information. I think it may be a positive if the angler is not told the official weight of each fish. Once weighed, the fish is immediately released in clear view of the marshal. The weigh-in ceremony is conducted as it is now, except instead of a bag of fish, the angler comes to the scales with his weigh-in device. At the weigh-in line, each anglers weigh-in device is connected to the scoring computer, which checks the data against that which had been transmitted. If there is a discrepancy between the two, the marshals backup records are used to resolve it (the marshals records can also be used to confirm that both sets of data are correct). When an angler is called to the stage, his weigh-in device is connected to the scoreboard. Drama can be added by having the scoreboard reveal information in a delayed manner. Maybe the first thing shown is the number of fish the angler caught, then a listing of the times the top five were caught, followed by the weight of the top five. The idea would be to keep the anticipation of "who is going to win" there without the fish being there. One of the first things I thought of when this popped into my head is how likely is it for an angler to catch the same fish multiple times in the same day or tournament. This and other issues could be resolved, most likely through some new technology, but it would bring a whole new skill set into play. If you could get the same 10 lb bedding female to bite 2,3,4 times in an 8 hr day, that would be amazing. What are your thoughts on this?

In the words of Gene Wilder in Mel Brooks classic " It is pronounced Fraunk-N-Stien...", to which Marty Feldmen replied "Well then, just call me EYE-Gore".

You are oh so right. I believe it is our responsibility to become as proficient as possible during this time so that when the grand-kids start arriving, we can properly play the role of grandpa. I'm imagining the negotiation with my future daughter-in-law now - "Yes, I'd be happy to babysit, once Johnny learns how to tie a Palomar knot and can pick out his own backlashes..."

The lakes getting older or you getting older? Or both?

"...I hooked this bass, fought him for over six hours. All of a sudden, he jumps clean over the boat. Broke my rod & I had to tie, now wait a minute fellas, I had to tie the line...(Lite Beer from Miller, everything you ever wanted in a beer, but less)...left me out there with nothing but a paddle!!"

As a teenager, I learned to fish with crankbaits & topwater lures. To this day, I enjoy fishing with them more because of the power of the strikes. It is a more visceral reaction by the bass as they try to destroy the bait compared to the more subtle inhaling of a slow moving plastic bait. That said, the past two years I have caught nearly 70% of my fish on various soft plastics (soft plastic swimbaits excluded). On my home lake at least, they are just that much more effective for the structure & cover the bass inhabit. So while I often start out with a hard bait, I am quick to change if the conditions dictate. It is a matter of liking the results more than liking the process.

It looks like one of those fish stole his bottom front teeth!! His smile is great, it fits the description of a "s***-eating grin". I can guarantee you are his favorite uncle.

+1 In addition, some of those suggestions can be combined (i.e., learn a trade & start a business)

Thank you for the compliment, that is a very nice thing to say.

Yes I do. If you are shore fishing & get your lure hung up on a log that has little feet & big teeth, just cut your line and walk away.